Sam on "Mythomaniac": Butch Lesbian, Femme Gay Boy, Transgender, Non-Binary, or None of Your Business?

 

The French drama Mythomaniac just dropped amid my Netflix recommendations: a woman tries to get attention from her family by faking a cancer diagnosis.  

Ordinarly I would run from such a depressing premise, but then I saw this person in the trailer. mascara, eye shadow, a dangling earring, and red nail polish.  I couldn't tell if they were a butch girl, a femme boy, trans, or nonbinary.  

Their name is Sam, but that could go either way.  They are played by Jeremy Gillet, who is presenting as male in this photo, but elsewhere on their Instagram page poses in drag, so maybe transgender?  I still didn't know.

In Episode #4, "Niklas discovers Sam's secret."  The secret was no doubt being gay or transgender, which would answer the question of Sam's gender.

There were various plotlines -- everyone in the family has dark secrets -- so I just watched the sections starring Sam.

Minute 1;20: Mom's test results come back negative.  Dad (Mathieu Demy, top photo) and their kids, including Sam, hug her. Sam has short hair for a girl but long hair for a boy.  They're wearing a long-sleeved shirt and jeans.   They have a striking resemblance to Jo from The Facts of Life, but their gender is unclear, perhaps deliberately.

Minute 5:45: Sam in school.  The teacher compliments them on a good assignment.  Out in the hallway, a girl approaches to ask if Sam is going to Camille's tonight.  They say "no."  For some reason this enrages the girl, who asks if Sam is feeling guilty over what happened to Kevin.  Sam becomes irate and smashes her into the wall: "We're all responsible!  Fuck you!"  

The girl's friends comfort her, saying "She's totally crazy."  Aha, Sam is a butch girl.

Minute 8.27:  Sam visits an unconscious boy in the intensive care unit of the hospital (Kevin, I surmise), and puts earbuds in so he can listen to music during his coma.

Minute 16:29: Sam tossing and turning in bed.  They flash back to a night with a lot of teens gathered outdoors, smoking and drinking.  As Sam watches, a boy, no doubt Kevin, climbs onto a ledge, then stumbles and falls off.  I can't see why Sam would feel guilty about that; it wasn't their fault).

Minute 28.02: Sam, now in a leather jacket, leaves what appears to be a police station.  Their mother picks them up, and wants to know why they didn't tell her about the charges being filed.  Sam doesn't know.  Mom then prompts Sam on what to say in court, to avoid self-incrimination. Sam confesses: "It was my fault. We were playing Truth or Dare, and he got the dare to kiss me, and refused."  So does this mean that Sam isn't a girl, or that they are unattractive?  "I was mad, so when it was my turn, I dared him to climb on the wall."

Minute 44: Sam and their sisters in their bedroom.  Sister wants Sam to cut her hair, in solidarity with Mom's fake cancer.  The end.

Wait -- when did Niklaus discover Sam's secret? Who is Niklaus, anyway?  Actor Marceau Ebersolt is shown in bed with Sam's sister, so I assume he's her boyfriend.  He appears in the episode but does not interact with Sam.

So I still don't know if Sam is a butch lesbian, a femme gay boy, transgender, nonbinary, or what? I guess one's gender identity is important only if one is interested in a date.  

Ok, there's a Mythomanic Wiki.  Sam is a transgender girl.  Niklas is a foreign exchange student staying with the family.  They start to make out, and when Niklas reaches down to Sam's crotch and finds a penis, he reacts badly and punches Sam in the face.    

I could have looked up the Wiki in the first place, but isn't it  more fun to figure out these things on your own?